Sakpe was the leader of a village located near the mouth of the Redwood River. After the Acton incident on August 17, the men who had killed the settlers went to several elders, including Sakpe, for counsel. After the war, Sakpe fled to Canada, but in January 1864, he was captured by British agents, turned over to U.S. authorities and imprisoned at Fort Snelling. In August, a military tribunal convicted him of killing civilians and sentenced him to death. He was executed at the fort on Nov. 11, 1865, in the presence of the fort's garrison and numerous civilians. It is said that as they climbed the scaffold, a steam train whistle blew in the distance, prompting Sakpe to say: "As the white man comes in, the Indian goes out." A sign at Historic Fort Snelling marks the execution site.